Instant Scratch-Off Lottery Ticket with Luminescent Security Marker

Abstract

A scratch-off lottery ticket and associated production method are provided wherein a primer material is applied as a dried layer to a front face of a ticket substrate. Game play indicia is printed on the primer layer in a designated game play area, and a scratch-off layer is applied over the game play indicia. The primer layer includes a particulate luminescent material homogeneously dispersed throughout, wherein the particulate luminescent material has a particle size and additive amount relative to the primer layer such that the particulate luminescent material does not add processing or material drying time to application of the primer layer. Fraudulent attempts to remove the scratch-off layer to reveal the underlying play indicia are rendered optically apparent by luminescence of the particulate luminescent material upon subsequent excitation of the play area with an excitation source.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A scratch-off lottery ticket, comprising: a substrate having a front face and a back face; a primer material applied as a dried layer over the front face, the primer layer comprising particulates having a size between 7 and 12 microns; game play indicia printed on the primer layer in a designated game play area; a scratch-off layer disposed over the game play indicia in the play area; and the primer layer further comprises a particulate luminescent material homogeneously dispersed throughout, the particulate luminescent material having a particle size between 7 and 12 microns and additive amount of between 1.8 to 2.2% solids level of the primer layer, wherein the particulate luminescent particle size and additive amount are selected such that the particulate luminescent material does not add processing or material drying time to the primer layer as compared to the primer layer without the particulate luminescent material; and wherein attempts to remove the scratch-off layer to reveal the underlying play indicia are rendered optically apparent by luminescence of the particulate luminescent material upon subsequent excitation of the play area with an excitation source.

17. The lottery ticket as in claim 16, wherein the particulate luminescent material is added to the primer material as an aqueous solution prior to printing the primer layer onto the substrate, wherein upon drying, the luminescent particles are homogeneously dispersed through the primer layer.

18. The lottery ticket as in claim 17, wherein the aqueous solution is added at between 1% to 5% by volume of the primer material.

19. The lottery ticket as in claim 18, wherein the primer layer is applied by one of a flexo plate, gravure cylinder, rollers, screen, or litho plate printing method.

20. The lottery ticket as in claim 16, further comprising a blocking layer between the substrate and the primer layer.

21. The lottery ticket as in claim 16, further comprising a release layer applied over the game play indicia below the scratch-off layer.

22. The lottery ticket as in claim 21, further comprising a blocking layer between the release layer and the scratch-off layer.

23. The lottery ticket as in claim 16, further comprising one or more additional primer layers applied over the substrate beneath the game play indicia, each of the primer layers containing the particulate luminescent material.

24. The lottery ticket as in claim 16, further comprising the particulate luminescent material mixed with an additional material layer above the primer layers that is visible upon exposing the top face of the lottery ticket to an excitation source.

25. A method for producing lottery tickets in a continuous printing press, comprising: supplying a continuous substrate through the printing press, the substrate having a front face and a back face; printing one or more primer material layers onto the front face, wherein the primer material includes a particulate luminescent material homogeneously dispersed throughout, the particulate luminescent material having a particle size between 7 and 12 microns and additive amount of between 1.8 to 2.2% solids level of the primer layer, wherein the particulate luminescent particle size and additive amount are selected such that the particulate luminescent material does not add processing or material drying time to the primer layer as compared to the primer layer without the particulate luminescent material; printing game play indicia onto an upper one of the primer material layers in a game play area of the ticket; printing a release layer over the game play indicia; and printing one or more scratch-off material layers over the game play indicia.

26. The method as in claim 25, wherein the particulate luminescent material is added to the primer material as an aqueous solution prior to printing the primer layer onto the substrate, wherein upon drying, the luminescent particles are homogeneously dispersed through the primer layer.

27. The method as in claim 26, wherein the aqueous solution is added at between 1% to 5% by volume of the primer material.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] A full and enabling disclosure including the best mode of practicing the appended claims and directed to one of ordinary skill in the art is set forth more particularly in the remainder of the specification. The specification makes reference to the appended figures, in which:

[0020] FIG. 1 is an illustration of a typical scratch-off lottery ticket;

[0021] FIG. 2 is a layer view of a scratch-off lottery ticket in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

[0022] FIG. 3 is a depiction of a scratch-off lottery ticket in accordance with the invention illuminated with an excitation source.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Reference will now be made in detail to various and alternative exemplary embodiments and to the accompanying drawings, with like numerals representing substantially identical structural elements. Each example is provided by way of explanation, and not as a limitation. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure and claims. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used on another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure includes modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0024] Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional scratch-off lottery ticket 10 is illustrated. Numerous examples of scratch-off lottery game tickets are known in the art, and the present invention is applicable to any such game tickets. It should be appreciated that the invention is not limited to any particular type of scratch-off lottery game. In general, the tickets 10 relate to a game theme, such as bingo, poker, a crossword game, and the like. The ticket includes a base substrate material 12, such a paper, foil, coated board, or other known materials. A section of the card 10 is designated as the game play area 20 and includes any manner of printed game play indicia 18 that relates to the lottery game theme and dictates whether the ticket 10 is a winning or losing ticket. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the play indicia 18 are letters that are used to form words in the crossword puzzle. The prize is a function of the number of words in the puzzle that can be formed with the set of play indicia letters 18.

[0025] The area of the ticket 10 generally surrounding the game play area 20 is considered a display area 21 that includes any manner of graphics or indicia related to the game theme, rules, and so forth.

[0026] As is well understood in the art, the game play indicia 18 is covered by one or more removable scratch-off layers 22 that are formulated to be easily removed by a player after purchasing the ticket 10 to reveal the underlying game play indicia 18. The scratch-off layer 22 is typically a latex material that breaks into particles or collapses from the underlying layer when scratched. Suitable scratch-off materials are well known in the art, and any such material may be used to practice the invention.

[0027] FIG. 2 provides a layer view of a ticket construction 10 in accordance with the invention. Any combination of the layers depicted in FIG. 2 may be used with a ticket that incorporates the inventive features of the invention. In other words, all of the ticket layers depicted in FIG. 2 need not be present in all embodiments of the invention.

[0028] Referring to FIG. 2, a lower blocking layer 28 is applied to a front face 13 of the substrate layer 12 generally in the game play area 20. This layer 28 is typically a dark (e.g., black) opaque security ink film layer that isolates the game play indicia 18 from wicking, candling, and other types of attacks, attempted at the back face of the substrate 12, as in known and practices in the industry.

[0029] One or more primer material layers 14, 16 are applied over the lower blocking layer 28. One or both of the primer layers 14, 16 are modified in accordance with aspects of the invention to include a particulate luminescent material 26, as discussed in greater detail below.

[0030] The game indicia layer 18 is printed onto the uppermost primer layer and includes any manner of graphics and other indicia that indicate to a player whether or not the game ticket 10 is a winning or losing ticket.

[0031] It is common practice to provide a generally clear protective release layer 30 over the game indicia 18. This layer is typically a hard gloss layer that functions to prevent damage to the game indicia 18 when the overlying scratch-off layer is removed by the player with a fingernail or other implement.

[0032] Certain embodiments may include an upper blocking security layer 32 applied over the release layer 30 to prevent wicking and other attacks to the game play area 20 from the front face side of the ticket 10.

[0033] As discussed above, one or more scratch-off layers 22, 24 are applied over the game play area 20 to hide the game play indicia 18. As is well-known, a player scratches or otherwise removes the layers 22, 24 to reveal the underlying game indicia 18, which determines the status of the ticket 10.

[0034] As depicted in FIG. 2, any number of additional ink layers 34 may be printed onto the uppermost scratch-off layer 24. Likewise, additional ink layers 36 may be printed onto the substrate 12 (or any layer added to the substrate 12) in the display areas 21 around the game play area 20. These ink layers 34, 36 the desired aesthetic appearance and game theme, game instructions, and the like.

[0035] Referring again to the primer material layers 14, 16, any one of a number of commercially available primers may be used. Conventional primers are typically supplied in aqueous form (e.g., a water-based formulation) with particulates suspended therein. Upon drying, the particulates form a coating or layer that is well-suited for acceptance of subsequently applied printed game indicia 18 or other ink layers. Although FIG. 2 depicts the primer material layers 14, 16 applied only in the game play area 20, it should be understood that the primer material layers 14, 16 could be applied over any and all areas of the substrate 12

[0036] The one or more primer layers 14, 16 include a particulate luminescent material 26 homogeneously dispersed throughout, as depicted in FIG. 2. These particles function as luminescent markers or tags if there has been an attack on the scratch-off layers that exposes the primer layers 14, 16 through the game indicia 18 and clear release layer 30. The luminescent material is selected such that the luminescent particle size and additive amount is non-disruptive to the primer printing process. In other words, addition of the luminescent material 26 to the primer materials 14, 16 is essentially invisible to the primer printing process. The added luminescent material 26 is mixed with the primer materials 14, 16 and printed onto the substrate 12 without requiring additional processing time (e.g., drying time) or processing steps as compared to primer materials 14, 16 without the luminescent material 26. As mentioned, it has been uniquely determined by the present inventor that the one or more primer layers 14, 16, and associated printing process, allows for addition of the luminescent marker material 26 without adverse consequences to overall ticket production time as compared to other layers of the ticket.

[0037] Referring to FIG. 3 and as mentioned above, with the ticket 10 in accordance with the invention, fraudulent attempts to remove the scratch-off layer 22, 24 to reveal the underlying game play indicia 18 are rendered optically apparent by luminescence of the particulate luminescent material 26 upon subsequent excitation of the play area 20 with an appropriate excitation source 38, such as an IR light or other radiation source that causes the materials 26 to luminesce.

[0038] In a particular embodiment, the particulate luminescent material 26 has a particulate size between 7 microns and 12 microns, for example 9 microns in a particular embodiment, which is generally within the range of the particles in various commercially available primers 14, 16 used in the lottery industry.

[0039] The particulate luminescent material 26 is added to the liquid primer material 14, 16 as an aqueous solution prior to printing the primer layers onto the substrate 12. Thus, upon drying, the luminescent particles 26 are homogeneously dispersed through the primer layer 14, 16. The aqueous solution can be added, for example, at between 1% to 5% by volume of the liquid primer material prior to printing.

[0040] In the dried state of the primer layers, the particulate luminescent material should have a concentration (by weight) of between 1.8 to 2.2% of the primer layer.

[0041] Desirably, the primer layers 14, 16 are not applied by a nozzle technique, which could be blocked by the luminescent and/or primer particles, but are printed by one of a flexo-plate, gravure cylinder, rollers, screen, litho-plate, or other known non-nozzle printing method.

[0042] The particulate luminescent material 26 may also be mixed with any of the other layers overlying the primer layers 14, 16. For example, the material 26 may be mixed with an overprinting layer 34 applied above the scratch-off layers 22, 24, or mixed with one or more of the overprinting layers 36 applied to the display area 21 around the game play area 20. In these embodiments, the luminescent material 26 may serve as an authentication device against counterfeit tickets. Even without removing the scratch-off material, the ticket 10 can be verified as authentic simply by passing the top face of the ticket by an excitation source (e.g., scanner) and observing the luminescent particles in the expected area of the top face of the ticket.

[0043] Referring again to FIG. 3, attempts may be made to prescreen the lottery tickets 10 by removing minute portions of the scratch-off layer or layers 22, 24 that overlie the game play indicia 18. For example, fine scratches, pinholes, or other breaches may be etched into the scratch-off layers 22, 24 in an attempt to discern the underlying game play indicia 18. To provide an optical indication that an attempt has been made to compromise the lottery ticket 10 by removing a portion of the scratch-off layers 22, 24, the luminescent particulate material 26 embedded in the one or more underlying primer layers 14, 16 generates a luminescent signal that is detectable visually or by an instrumental device upon being exposed to an excitation energy or source 38 incorporated with a scanner. Any number of commercially available particulate luminescent compounds (e.g., fluorescent, phosphorescent, etc.) may be used for this purpose. The excitation source 38 emits a particular radiation that excites the luminescent particulate material 26. Any material 26 that is exposed to the excitation source 38 through a breach in the scratch-off layer 122, 24 will react to the radiation and emit an optically detectable luminescent signature that is visible to the naked eye or to detection circuitry in a scanner or reader. For example, the luminescent particle material 26 may be a fluorescent compound, and the excitation source 38 may be a UV light source that causes any of the exposed material to glow.

[0044] Applicant has found that a suitable source of the aqueous particulate luminescent materials 26 is available from Roymal, Inc., of Newport, N.H., USA, under the trade #47660 Clear Aqueous Security Coating-Luminescent Marker.

[0045] In one embodiment, latex microparticles that are labeled with a fluorescent dye may be utilized. Suitable particles may be described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,381 to Jou, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,459 to Tarcha, et al.; and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0139886 to Bodzin, et al. Commercially available examples of suitable fluorescent particles include fluorescent carboxylated microspheres sold by Molecular Probes, Inc. under the trade names FluoSphere (Red 580/605) and TransfluoSphere (543/620), as well as Texas Red and 5- and 6-carboxytetramethylrhodamine, which are also sold by Molecular Probes, Inc.

[0046] The present invention also encompasses various methods of producing the tickets 10 having the unique advantages, as discussed and enabled in the above description.

[0047] It should be understood that the present description is not limiting, but instead serves to show and teach various exemplary implementations of the present subject matter. As set forth in the attached claims, the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and sub-combinations of various features discussed herein, along with such variations and modifications as would occur to a person of skill in the art.